A Love that Dare Not Speak its Name
by VillageVoice
Summary: Callica. After their kiss on the elevator, Erica goes one way, and Callie goes another . . . or so it seemed. FemSlash
1. The Elevator

**Grey's Anatomy  
'A Love that Dare Not Speak its Name'  
**  
**Disclaimer:** Grey's Anatomy and all characters associated with it belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. As much as I wish they were mine, they never will be. All other characters and places are mine. If there is a real person or place that I have named in my story, it is purely coincidental.

**Summary:** Callica. After their kiss on the elevator, Erica goes one way, and Callie goes another . . . or so it seemed. FemSlash**  
**

**Reviews welcome, but please be nice.**

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They were all riding the elevator down to the lobby. Callie, Erica and Mark. Well, it had just been Callie and Erica, but then Mark interrupted, as he always seemed to do. At one point Callie would have much preferred being with him to spending time with Erica, especially Erica alone, but that had all changed.

When Addison came back to Seattle Grace and asked Callie if she was "speaking the Vagina Monologues" with Erica, Callie had been a bit confused. She liked Erica, but only as a friend. She didn't have any romantic feelings for the other woman. Did she? For a while after that she had avoided Erica. She needed time to sort out her feelings and time to figure out what she really wanted, and time to stay away from Erica and let the talk of them together to die down. Besides, it was just awkward after what Addison said.

But then she came to realize that time away from Erica only made her want to be with the blonde even more. So she had finally stopped avoiding her and told her what Addison said. They both had a good laugh and an awkward silence ensued, so it was a good time. She wasn't too sure what it meant, but she got the feeling that Erica may possibly feel the same way about her. If she hadn't and Addison had been totally off the mark, then that silence after she told her wouldn't have been half as awkward.

"You couldn't handle the two of us." Erica said to Sloan. He must've said something before that to make Erica say that, but Callie couldn't tell what it was. As soon as he mentioned threesome, or as soon as she mentioned a threesome...and thinking about it all day, all she could do was picture Erica naked. Her and Erica naked . . . together. Okay, so maybe she was just thinking of a twosome, and without Mark, but what was going on in her head was ten times hotter than anything she had ever had with Mark.

The sound of Erica's voice brought her back to the conversation. "You wouldn't find it intimidating?" Callie put everything she had into staring straight ahead and not watching Erica's lips move. God knew her turn-on button was already on high just by hearing the blonde speak, and speak about sex . . . sex with her. Okay, sex with her and Mark, but he could be gotten rid of easy enough. She had no idea when she started thinking about Erica like this, but she had to admit, she liked it. Just as long as no one found out – ever.

**"**Not at all." Mark said.

Callie smirked. She could barely handle these fantasies, so she highly doubted that Mark could handle the real thing. Just as she was beginning to simmer down, Erica reached over and kissed her. Right there . . . in the elevator . . . in front of Mark. Holy shit, Erica Hahn was kissing her in front of Mark. Mark, the man she was sleeping with, Mark.

Erica brushed her thumb over Callie's cheek and for a few short seconds they were all that mattered. Not what would happen if everyone found out, or if the guys who watched the elevator cameras were actually awake. Just them.

But just as soon as she had started it, Erica ended it and pulled away. She looked right at Sloan, "See, too much for you." With that, the elevator opened and she walked out, proud of her ability to taunt the elusive Dr. Mark Sloan.

He said something about the third floor on-call room and walked out of the elevator in the opposite direction that Erica had just left in. Callie stepped straight out of the elevator, still in a state of shock. Erica had kissed her. Of her own free will, Erica had kissed her. Maybe to taunt Mark, but still . . . a kiss is a kiss. And a damn hot one at that. Maybe she didn't have to be so afraid. Maybe Erica did feel something more than friendship towards her.

Now was decision time. To the left was Mark, and sex...with. To the right was Erica. Erica who always looked beautiful no matter how many hours she'd been on her feet in surgery. Erica, who could open up someone's heart and save their life. Erica who had been plaguing her dreams. . . Erica. But to go with Mark would be so much easier. No one would even think she had feelings for another woman if she was with him. No one would think her best friend made her wetter than Mark, or any man, ever had. No one would know that at the end of the day when it came down to it, she just wanted to be with Erica.

She went to the left.

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Now, one may think...why would the author do this when this is a Callica fic. Well...alas, this is not the only chapter, and nothing is ever easy! Review and I just may post the next chapter


	2. What Could Have Been

Okay, so...here's the thing. I got all these story alert e-mails, but most of them I got from people who didn't review the story. If you want me to post, you've got to review. It's not hard, just tell me what you thought about the chapter. I spend a lot of time on these chapters, so a little review really isn't too much to ask for. For all of you who did review THANK-YOU soooo much.

Oh, and I also apologize for what happens in this chapter. I wasn't planning on it turning out anything like this...at all, but my Muse had other ideas. She can be evil sometimes.

Village Voice

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Once Callie came out of her 'Erica kissed me' haze, it took her about 3 seconds to realize that they had all gotten off on the wrong floor. In an attempt to make it seem like the kiss had just been to taunt Mark, when the elevator doors opened Erica had walked out with her head held high knowing that the kiss left them all stunned. Mark just got out to find the nearest on-call room. But since they got off on the wrong floor, Erica would have to take the stairs or the other elevator down the hall down a floor to exit the hospital.

But was she ready for this? What she felt for Erica wasn't just some urge to have sex with the woman, it was deeper than that. She wanted to be with her. She wanted Erica to be the first thing she saw when she woke-up in the morning and the last thing she saw before she fell asleep at night. She wanted to be with her, not just have sex with her, although that was bound to happen and it would be amazing.

Callie licked her lips…she could still taste Erica. She had an idea.

She looked around and saw the door to the elevator down the hall closing to her right and the on-call room door closing to her left. The stairs were to her left. They were just in front of the room Mark just went into, so if she made sure the door didn't slam, he didn't even have to know.

Quickly she ran to the stairs and threw open the door, very careful to shut it quietly. Then she bolted down the stairs, taking them two at a time until she reached the lobby. Noticing Erica wasn't down there yet, she looked over at a mirror that was hanging on a wall and fixed her hair as best she could from her little flying down the stairs adventure.

She heard the elevator bell chime and ran to the front of the elevator to wait for Erica. The door opened slowly, but . . . no Erica. Callie looked around, but there was no sign of her. She sighed and took the elevator back up a floor and looked around again. She wasn't there either.

She wandered into the bathroom and slammed her hands down on the sink. "Dammit." She sighed. "I should have followed her when I had the chance." She looked at herself in the mirror. "What are you doing Callie? . . There's no way she could be even remotely interested in you. . . She's . . . She's Erica-freaking-Hahn is what she is. . . She's-" She took a deep breath. Then it hit her. "She's on the other side of the damn hospital." Erica had said something about parking her car in a different lot this morning. She high-tailed it out of the bathroom and ran to the other side of the building. She caught Erica just as she was crossing the street. "Erica!"

But the timing was all wrong. A car sped through the stop sign, and Erica stopped in the wrong place. She would never forget that sound. _"ERICA!"_ Callie was at her side in an instant. "Oh my God."

The driver got out of his car. "She just stopped. I didn't think she was going to stop."

Callie bit her tongue. She would deal with him later, Erica needed her now. "Just . . . go get help." He ran off toward the hospital and Callie tried to asses Erica. "Erica . . . Erica . . ." She let a tear fall. "Sweetie I need you to stay with me here, just stay with me okay?" There was blood everywhere. Her beautiful golden hair was matted with blood, her abdomen and side were already bruising, and it looked as if she had a few broken ribs and at least a broken leg. "Erica." Her voice was but a whisper now. "Erica you can't do this to me. Not now." She wiped the tears from her face. "Open your eyes . . . Please Erica." The tears fell again. "I need you."

With what little energy she could muster, Erica opened her eyes. Callie caressed her face. "That's it sweetie, now just stay with me okay?" She grabbed Erica's hand and entwined their fingers, bringing their joined hands up so Erica could see. "You and me . . . we're not finished yet." She smiled down at the broken woman and wiped a stray hair from her face. "No no no no, Erica you have got to stay with me, please." She leaned in closer. "Please baby. I can't lose you."

Sometime shortly after that they had come out with a gurney and brought Erica straight into the OR. Callie ran all the way to the OR with them, but try as she might, they would not let her go in with them.

"Dr. Torres, you cannot go in there."

"Come on Miranda. Her leg is broken in at least four places. You don't have anyone who could possibly sort out that mess. I can save her."

"We have a perfectly qualified team in there. You're too close to her."

Callie took a deep breath. "I . . . She needs to live."

Dr. Bailey headed toward the OR. "Don't worry, she's one of our own."

"Wait, Dr. Bailey. Can I just see her for a minute? She was hit so hard, there was so much blood, and if she doesn't make it…" She had to stop herself. She couldn't let anyone else see her cry.

Dr. Bailey looked into the room. People were still scrubbing up and Erica wasn't under anesthesia yet. She held open the door. "You've got 5 minutes Torres."

Callie ran past her and straight to Erica. She gently took her hand, afraid of hurting the frail woman. She completely ignored everyone else in the room and all of the activity, and focused solely on Erica. She brought her other hand up to cup her face. The touch made Erica open her eyes. "Hey, there are those beautiful eyes. Listen, they're going to operate in a few minutes. I won't be in here, even though I'm probably the best one in this dump to be working on you." She tried to laugh, but ended up making herself cry even harder.

Erica brought her hand up to Callie's face. It was the last of her energy, and after that she could barely keep her eyes open, but she had to. For Callie. She could be the last image she ever saw. The last time she ever saw anyone, the last time she saw Callie. She could die with Callie never knowing how she felt. She had meant to tell her, but Sloan always seemed to interrupt them whenever they were alone.

Callie put her hand over Erica's. "I'm not ready to lose you." She brought Erica's hand down and laid it across her stomach. Then she took her free hand and brought it to Erica's cheek. "I'm not ready for this to end."

Dr. Bailey put a hand on Callie's shoulder. "You have to go now."

"Just one second, please. I promise, just one more minute." Dr. Bailey backed away. Callie turned back to Erica and ran her thumb across Erica's pale cheek, just as Erica had done to her not even an hour earlier. She wiped a tear from her face and smiled. "I know it's hard to keep your eyes open sweetie, but just try a little bit longer." Erica blinked and looked up with determination. "There's my girl. Now you're going to make it through this. You're going to make it through this because I have something I need to tell you."

Dr. Bailey coughed from a ways away and Callie knew this was time to wrap it up. She took a deep breath. "Okay, I have to go now." Erica tightened her grip on Callie's hand. Callie smiled and tried not to let anymore tears fall. It was sweet, but Erica didn't need the last thing she saw before surgery to be her crying. "I will be right outside watching, and when they wheel you out I will be right by your side. Okay?" Erica closed her eyes in agreement, then opened them again. These could possibly be the last few seconds she had with Callie and she didn't want to miss a single one.

Callie looked deep into Erica's eyes conveying everything that she couldn't say. She leaned over and gave Erica a quick kiss, that was hidden by her hair so anyone watching probably just thought she was whispering something in her ear. She pulled away and rested her forehead on Erica's. "Don't you leave me. I need you . . . more than you possibly know."

Callie pulled away and Erica looked into her eyes. "I need you too."

Then Dr. Bailey and the other doctors came over and ushered Callie out of the room. The minute their hands were forced apart, Erica stopped fighting and slipped into unconsciousness and all Callie could do was watch.

**-2 Hours Later-**

Callie was standing in the viewing room, right off of the OR watching Erica's surgery more intently then she had ever watched a surgery before. She was supposed to be up in the viewing gallery, or preferable not watching at all, but she was part of this hospital, part of this team. So no one said anything. A doctor had even been in every half-hour to let her know what was going on, even though she could see and hear everything.

Mark took off his surgical mask and gown and joined Callie in the viewing room. "I stitched up her head myself, so there shouldn't be any scaring. I know how you'd hate for that pretty face of hers to change." Callie's eyes remained focused on the surgery. "I'll go back in there once their done to close-up her abdomen." Callie still didn't react. "So . . . I take it this is why you didn't join me in the on-call room."

Callie ignored him and continued watching the surgery. Well, not the surgery so much as Erica. Her face was getting a bit more color, but she had already crashed once and things weren't looking well for her leg. They had managed to get the internal bleeding somewhat under control, but it was touch and go. If anything happened to her . . .

"I was hoping we could have brought Erica in with us. At least that way she wouldn't be laying on a table with half of her body sliced open."

Callie whipped around and shot daggers into the man. "Were you not just in there? Can you not see what's going on? Erica is dying. Her heart has already stopped once. She died. Okay, tonight I called her name and she stopped and got hit by a car. I made her die, alright. Stop talking about sex when I am trying with everything I have in me not to break down right now because she needs me to be strong."

Sloan was a bit taken back. He thought he could have sensed something between the two, but more on Hahn's side. "Wow, I uh . . . I didn't know you felt that way about her." He shrugged. "I thought it was just the threesome idea."

Callie threw her drink at Sloan and walked out of the room. "Screw you"

The minute Callie left the room, Erica crashed again. They shocked her and shocked her, but they didn't get a rhythm until Callie came back into the viewing room. She was down fifteen minutes.

**-5 Hours After That-**

Five hours later, nothing was going any better. Erica's leg was a mess, the moron they had operating on it had chipped a lot more bone away then he should have, and if he kept going she was going to have to lose the leg.

Dr. Bailey looked at Callie through the glass. She knew Callie was the best person to be working on Erica's leg, but it was against protocol and totally against the rules. She looked to the surgeon working on the leg. He was alright, but he had already made too many careless mistakes and one more could cost this great surgeon her leg. "Torres." She called. "Scrub in."

Callie was scrubbed and in the OR in a matter of minutes. She turned to the guy working on Erica's leg. "You, beat-it. And if I ever see you anywhere near her, I will make sure to let her know that you nearly cost her her leg." She turned and looked Erica over. She looked terrible, her chest and abdomen were cut open, she had stitches all over her body…

"Torres." Bailey called. "Don't make me regret letting you in here."

**-2 More Hours After That-**

9 hours of surgery and Erica was wheeled into a private room, Callie by her side. They didn't expect her to wake-up anytime soon. She had had massive traumas to her body. Callie had managed to set her leg, so that should heal pretty quickly, a broken rib had punctured her left lung which had to be re-inflated, her spleen and part of her liver had to be removed, her forehead has 27 stitches, and then there were some veins and blood vessels that had popped, but they managed to patch those up. From there it was supposed to be smooth sailing.

Erica had been taken off anesthesia, but she still wasn't awake. Sometimes after major trauma, it takes the body longer to respond. Callie took Erica's hand and caressed her pale face. "You did it sweetie. The hard part is over, now all you have to do is wake-up." She sat there, expecting Erica to wake right up. "Erica, please. You've got to wake-up. I need to see those pretty blue eyes of yours." Still nothing. Callie put her head down on their entwined hands and cried, because for the first time she realized that Erica may never be Erica again. And she didn't know if she could handle that.


	3. The Chance to Love You

Because you guys have been so good to me, here's the next chapter.

R & R  
VIllage Voice

It had been three days. Three days since Callie had last seen the blue of Erica's eyes. Three days since Erica had kissed her in the elevator. And three days since Callie had called Erica's name and caused her to get hit by a car. Three days she had been unconscious.

The nurses were nice though, they didn't know whether the two were in relationship or if Callie just wanted to be, but they did know that she wasn't ready to talk about it. After three days of not moving from her spot by Erica, nor letting go of her hand, they had finally been able to convince Callie to get something to eat, and shower. Not even considering the possibility of leaving the hospital without Erica, Callie grabbed a change of clothes from her locker and hopped in the shower in the bathroom off Erica's room.

She hadn't even been in ten minutes when she heard the familiar sound.

"V-fib." She heard someone say. "Clear."

Callie turned off the water and heard as Erica's body was shocked and then landed back on the bed. She grabbed a towel and walked out of the room. "What the hell happened?" She asked.

"She crashed." One of the nurses answered.

Callie pushed through and grabbed Erica's hand, leaning in real close. "Now you listen to me Erica Hahn. You did not make it this far to quit now. We did not make it this far for it to be over before it begins. I don't accept that."

"Clear."

Callie let go of Erica's hand for a second and then grabbed it again once the paddles were off. She kissed Erica's cheek and gently messaged the area. "We have something Erica, we do. We really do. And it's good and it's real and it's like nothing I've ever felt before . . . And I won't let you take that away from me."

"Charge to 300. Clear."

"Wait." Dr. Bailey instructed the other doctor.

"This woman is in V-fib."

"Give Dr. Torres a chance."

Callie smiled up at Dr, Bailey and mouthed 'thank-you.' She turned back to Erica and sighed. "You're better than this Erica. You never let anything keep you down. You rise above it. Rise Erica. I know you have it in there somewhere. . . Maybe I'm just being selfish. I need you, and I am not letting you go, not now, not yet. Give us a chance Erica." Her voice cracked to a whisper. "Give us a chance." She looked up at the Dr. Bailey. "Shock her again."

Dr. Bailey took the paddles. "Charge to 300. Clear . . ." No change.

"Again." Callie said.

"350 . . ."

Callie leaned in to Erica's ear. "Come on Erica. I have all these feelings for you. They're strong and they're real, and you are not going to rob me of the chance to love you."

"Clear." Still no change.

"_Erica!" _Callie grabbed her hand again and held it to her heart, still down by Erica's ear. "You feel this Erica? This is yours, all you have to do is _wake the fuck up_." She turned to Dr. Bailey. "One more time."

"Callie-"

"One more time!"

Dr. Bailey sighed. "Charge to 400. . . Clear." She shocked Erica and just as easily as it had started, it ended. Erica's heart started beating on its own again and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, including Callie who collapsed into the chair and cried.

She felt it, it was slight, but she felt it. Erica was squeezing her hand. Callie looked up. "Erica? Erica can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." She felt it again, stronger. "Did you see that, she did it?"

Dr. Bailey made everyone else leave the room and made her way to the side of the bed. "Dr. Hahn can you hear me?" There was no reply or motion whatsoever. "I'm going to leave you two alone. You'll probably have more luck than anyone else." She exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Callie sat down on the bed next to Erica and tried to get her to wake-up, but it was no use. She again took up her position in the chair on the side of her bed and grabbed Erica's hand. She was not leaving her side again.

**-Sometime That Night-**

Callie was once again crying with her head on her and Erica's entwined hands. The events of the past few days had finally gotten too much for her. That and she hadn't had a decent night's sleep for the last few days and she hadn't eaten anything either. All of that combined currently had her praying, which she hadn't done in a long, long time. "Please, I can't lose her." She brought her head up and caressed Erica's face. "I can't lose you. You mean to damn much to me." It wasn't long before exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep.

It was near 6 am when she felt it again, the familiar squeeze of her hand. This time Callie was determined to get Erica to wake-up. She got off the chair and sat next to Erica on the bed, holding their conjoined hands to her own heart. "Erica, you cannot do this to me again. I can't handle it. I need you here with me now. So you need to come back from wherever you are because if I have to go one more second without seeing those beautiful eyes of yours I just might lose it." She brought her other hand to Erica's face. "You are the strongest, most amazing woman I have ever met. I refuse to lose you and I refuse to lose what we have together Erica. . ." Callie felt Erica squeeze her hand. It was strong, a lot stronger than it had been before. "That's it sweetie, that's it. Now just open your eyes. . . Please Erica. For me?"

Erica had no idea what was going on, but she heard Callie and she heard every single word coming from the beautiful woman's lips. Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes.

Tears immediately started falling from Callie's own eyes. She took a deep breath and smiled, suppressing the strong urge to cry. "That's my girl. . . That's my girl."


	4. Sweet Release

Thanks for all the reviews guys, they really mean a lot.

Village Voice

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Doctors had been in Erica's room for the past few hours and pretty much barred Callie from going in. She'd checked up on some of her patients, changed her clothes, gotten something to eat, but mostly she had been pacing outside of Erica's room.

Callie charged at the first doctor out of the room. "Dr. Bailey."

"Dr. Torres, didn't I tell you to go home?"

"You know I'm not leaving here. Not without Erica."

Dr. Bailey looked at the taller woman for a moment. That's when she saw it, deep within the heart of Callie's eyes. It was love. She nodded toward Erica's door. "Go. We'll check back tomorrow."

Callie smiled and trotted the few short paces to Erica's room. The last doctor to leave stood there blocking the doorway so she couldn't get in. "She's not supposed to have visitors."

Callie folded her arms over her chest and stared the man down.

"She . . . needs her rest?" He said weakly.

Callie didn't budge. "Miranda."

Dr. Bailey looked up from Erica's chart. "Dr. Neal will you move out of her way." The scrawny doctor slunked away missing the over exaggerated eye roll coming from Callie. "But she's not-"

Callie closed the door and forgot all about the doctor. Erica was awake. It had been three excruciatingly long days since Erica had looked at anything and now that she was awake…she chose to look at Callie. She held her arms out to the woman who had not left her bedside for more than half an hour the past three days and Callie was in her arms in an instant. "Don't you ever do that to me again." She choked out through a massive onslaught of tears.

Never before in her life had Callie Torres cried so much in her life. It wasn't unknown for her to cry, but never before had anyone been able to make her cry pretty much consistently for days straight. "I'm sorry Callie, I'm so sorry."

Callie pulled away and looked at the woman. She still looked so frail, so…broken. "You're sorry? I'm the one who should have gone right after you when I had the chance." She cupped Erica's face in her hand and kissed away her tears. After wiping away the remaining tears, she hovered over Erica's mouth wondering if she was doing the right thing. The past few days she had been pouring her heart and soul out to Erica, but she had been unconscious. There was the fact that Erica had kissed her, but that very well could only have been to taunt Mark.

But it didn't matter because the choice was taken away from her. Having a little more energy than she had for a while, Erica took Callie's face in her hands and brought their faces together until their lips met. She could taste the tears on Callie's lips, and that lip gloss she always wore that drove the heart surgeon insane.

Callie reacted immediately. This time, there was no pompous ass in the room they were trying to impress or taunt or whatever. It was just them. The kiss was soft and sweet and loving. Everything they both hoped their first "real" kiss together would be.

They both broke away smiling and staring deep into each other's eyes until they realized someone else was in the room. Erica's face immediately dropped. "Sloan."

Callie closed her eyes and never looked anywhere but in front of her.

"I ah…I just came to see how you were doing, how the stitches were holding."

"Everything's fine. Thanks."

He shifted uncomfortably. "Then I guess I'll check back tomorrow."

Once the door was closed, Erica let out a sigh of relief . . . or frustration, she didn't know. "Sloan did my stitches? Sloan?"

"He's the best we have. Look, you won't even have any scarring."

"I would have rather you did them and I have scarring then for him to touch me, especially while I'm unconscious." She looked at Callie. "Aren't you going to go after him?"

"No." Callie looked confused. "Why would I?"

Erica gave her a look. A look that she gave her residents when they asked a stupid question they knew the answer to.

"Erica, I didn't spend the last three days by your side for no reason."

"Yeah, I know. You feel guilty." She sighed. "Well you don't have to. I release you from your guilt or whatever."

Callie smiled down at Erica. The blonde was determined to push her away, but Callie wasn't about to let that happen. "What I have you can't release me from." She used a hand to guide Erica's face to look up at her. "I don't want to be released."


	5. Leaving it All Behind

I'm not really sure what I should do here, so I'm leaving it all up to you. I personally think that this would be a perfect place to end this story, but I want to know what you all think. Don't just say to continue it cause you want it to go on, but really tell me if it would end well here. Although if I do end it here, I already have a title for a sequel in mind, _The Chance to Love you_. Thanks

Village Voice

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It had been a week since Erica had been awake. A week since the doctors and nurses had made themselves scarce, only sending Dr. Bailey in once a day to make sure everything was on track and healing well, and a week since Dr. Sloan had even been on the floor…they assumed. He hadn't been back since that day he caught them kissing. But none of that mattered because today, today Erica was going home.

After getting a plethora of antibiotics and pain killers, a walking cast for her leg, she was good to go…that is, as long as she had someone to stay with her for the next few weeks. A condition of her release since they wanted to keep her in the hospital for a while longer. It was either that or she walked out against medical advice. So Dr. Bailey had agreed to release her as long as she had someone who could be there for her 24/7.

Guess who had been the first to offer her services?

"You know Callie" Erica began as Callie helped her into the wheelchair. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself for a few days. It's not even that serious….Ow." She grimaced.

"Not even that serious? Erica, you were hit by a car. An actual fresh off the highway speeding in a hospital zone barreling through a stop sign…car." Erica grimaced again. "You can't even sit without being in pain."

"No, but I can lie down. It doesn't hurt as much when I'm horizontal."

Callie smirked, but held in that laugh she was dying to laugh. There are a million things Callie would love to do with Erica horizontal, but now was not the time. She rounded the wheelchair and squatted down in front of Erica, meeting her eyes. "I want to do this. And not because I feel guilty for getting you hit by the car, which was my fault,"

Erica laughed. "Ow." It would take a while for her lung, rib, and abdomen to heal and until then she would have to deal with pain when she laughed. But it was alright because Callie was the only one who really made her laugh, really laugh, and she would endure the worst kind of pain for that woman.

"But, I want to do this for you. I want to be there for you." She licked her lips and scanned the room quickly. "I want to be the one to kiss the pain away."

Erica leaned closer. "I have something you can ki-"

"Alright." Dr. Bailey charged into the room interrupting the pair once again. Someone always seemed to know exactly when _not_ to walk into the room and do it anyway. "A condition of your release…"

Callie stood up. "I already talked to Chief and he said I can take as much time as it takes."

Miranda scoffed. "I'll bet. He's just worried that no one's going to come here with Seattle Grace's 'Cardio-God' gone. It's bad for business."

"Aw, thanks." Erica said, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. "I'll be sure to get better as fast as I can so I can back here before the whole cardio wing disappears."

Callie bit her tongue and wheeled Erica right to the door, stopping at Dr. Bailey to get Erica's discharge papers.

"It's been a pleasure Dr. Bailey." Erica said.

Miranda rolled her eyes and deposited the papers into Callie's waiting hand. Callie wheeled Erica out of the room and the duo immediately started laughing the minute they turned the corner.

After a few minutes Erica doubled over in pain. "Doctors make the worst patients." Callie scolded, running a hand under Erica's shirt over her abdomen to make sure she hadn't ruptured anything.

"Yeah, well I'm sorry if it feels good to laugh."

Callie removed her hand and could have sworn she saw a look of disappointment cross Erica's face.

"I haven't had much to laugh about being locked up in a hospital twenty-four hours a day."

"Are you saying I'm bad company?" Callie stopped the wheelchair at the elevator.

Erica reached up and took Callie's hand, pulling her around the front of the chair. "I'm saying that I would never laugh at you."

Callie smiled. This is why she wanted to be with Erica, because deep down the woman had a heart of gold. If, on the off chance Erica found some quality in you that didn't annoy the hell out of her and you became friends, which, granted, is rare…very very rare, but once you were in, you were in. Period. Once she let you in, you would see that she was the funniest, sweetest and most generous person you would ever meet in your entire life . . . but that was Erica. Dr. Hahn, on the other hand, would only gave you the time of day if there was a strong prospect she could slice open your chest and take a nice, long look at that pretty little thing that beats inside your chest.

She again assumed the position squatting down in front of Erica in her wheelchair. She looked so much better. There was color in her cheeks, her eyes had their sparkle back, their zest for life, and the best part of it all was…she was smiling again…smiling at Callie. That smile that lit up her eyes and made everything else disappear. She reached up and put her hand to Erica's cheek. Erica covered Callie's hand with her own and wiped the tear that ruined Callie's otherwise perfect face. "You don't need to be crying."

Callie smiled and swallowed the rest of her tears. She always knew the right thing to say. Always. "I don't know…what I would have done-"

"Shh…Don't think about that. You don't have to worry about that because I'm right here." She put Callie's hands in her lap and placed her own on either side of Callie's face. "I'm right here. With you. In this hospital I can't wait to get out of."

Callie laughed and wiped her face. "Okay, point taken." She stood up and walked around to the back of the chair waiting for the elevator to get to their floor. With a quick glance around Callie leaned down and brought her lips dangerously close to Erica's ear. "I can tell you one place I desperately want to get into." She whispered.

Erica was about to come up with something equally witty and seductive, but just as she went to open her mouth the elevator chimed and who should step off but Dr. Sloan himself.

"Do you two have some sort of radar that goes off whenever I'm close by?"

"Don't I wish." Erica mumbled.

Callie straightened up. "Not everything is about you Sloan." Erica chuckled and looked innocently around. '_He's back to Sloan now.'_

He gave Erica a look and grabbed Callie's arm dragging her far enough away so Erica couldn't hear. "What are you doing Callie?"

"I'm trying to go home."

"Home? You're already calling Erica's place home?"

"I meant her home. Look, the point is I'm leaving." She started walking away.

"We need to talk about this."

She turned around and walked back over to Sloan. She didn't need to bother Erica with anything this man said. "Other than maybe talking about Erica's stitches or overall wellbeing, we don't have anything to talk about. This is none of your business." And with that she re-joined Erica and wheeled her into the elevator, leaving Sloan and that chapter of their lives well behind.


End file.
